Guest Post!! chocolate sprinkle sandwich cookies from Heather of Sprinkle Bakes

Did I ever tell you all of one of my crushes? Lucky for my husband it's a blog-crush. On Heather of Sprinkle Bakes. The crush combines my utter awe of the jaw-dropping sweets she creates with a bit of artistic jealousy at her genius. Just scroll through her site and you'll see what I mean within seconds. This is my favorite.  Wait, no, another one of my favorites. Or this. Or I could go on. And in more good news, she has a book coming out in May! I've already cleared a spot on my shelf. You know how it is with crushes. I'm pretty giddy she's guest posting today. Beyond giddy. My poor husband... So no more yakking from me, here's Heather!!

I'm so excited to be guest posting at one of my favorite blogs today!  Meaghan has such a knack for creating cute edibles, I knew whatever I made for this post would need to be pretty darn adorable.  And I felt it was only right to make cookies, since this is "The Decorated Cookie"!


For me, the easiest way to go from zero to cute is to add sprinkles. This colorful, eye-catching cookie is one of my tried and true recipes.  I usually make them for birthdays and Christmas cookie platters.  The type of sprinkles I use are a soft variety that can be easily found in the ice cream section at grocery stores.  The sandwiched cookies remind me of little whoopie pies, and they are nearly as soft, but they still retain the slight crumble of a cookie.

If you'd like to increase the fun factor, you can sandwich the cookies between a lollipop stick.  Before standing the cookie lollies upright, make sure to let them rest on their side until the buttercream crusts. This helps to anchor the stick in place.  For an even better adhesive, dip the lollipop stick in melted candy wafers and lay it in the middle of a cookie before frosting and sandwiching with a second cookie.

Chocolate Sprinkle Sandwich Cookies

12 sandwich cookies



Cookies:

10 1/2 Tablespoons (2/3 cup) butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder (such as Hershey's Special Dark)

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp kosher salt

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup rainbow sprinkles (such as Mr. Sprinkles brand from the ice cream aisle)

12  6-8-inch lollipop sticks

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter on medium speed until creamy.
3. Add granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.  Mix well until combined.  Mix in the egg and vanilla extract. Scrape the sides of the bowl down with a rubber spatula as needed.  Beat in the all purpose flour.  Dough should not be sticky.
4. Fill a small bowl with the rainbow sprinkles.
5. Measure out dough by the level tablespoons.  Roll into a ball between your palms and roll dough ball in sprinkles until completely coated.  When all of dough has been rolled into balls and sprinkle-coated, place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
6. Bake for 12 minutes.

Filling:

8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1-1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1. Beat butter and powdered sugar in a large bowl with a hand mixer on low speed.  When almost incorporated, add vanilla and beat on high speed until light and fluffy.  
2. Transfer to a piping bag and fill cookies, or fill by spreading frosting on cookies with a small spatula.

Note:  Sandwich them with frosting or don't - they are good either way.


--
Heather Baird
www.sprinklebakes.com